Always have His Spirit

 Moroni 1-5

Moroni is wrapping up the end of the Book of Mormon.  According to a class I attended some years ago, this is only the 8^th book he’s translated.  He has not translated Nephi through Omni yet.  In these five chapters he teaches the things Christ taught the apostles pertaining to administering the Holy Ghost (ch 2), ordaining priests and teachers (ch 3) and the sacrament (chapters 4&5).

Can you imagine what might have been going through Joseph Smith’s mind at this time?  I suppose if I wanted to pull out the History of the Church, I would know/remember more completely, but as I read this morning, I wondered what it must have been like to hear this for the first time.  What an amazing experience for Joseph Smith.  And what a blessing it is to us to have this information.

As I read, I slowed down a little on the sacrament prayers to see where the differences were other than in the emblems.  In taking the bread, the third thing we do is “. . . take upon them the name of thy Son. . .”  This is not part of the prayer on the water – probably because it has already been done.  What does it mean to me to take on the name of Christ?  Would I more fully try to emulate him?  I would think so.  So in order to do that, I would need to know who he is – come to know him.  Do I know my Savior?  Do I do the things he would do if he were living my life?  Do I counsel as he would counsel.  Counseling seems to be the one thing I do more than anything else these days.  Do I remember Him as I give counsel?  I really believe I do – I consciously try to anyway.  As I was visiting with my son last night about some concerns he has, I consciously filtered my thoughts through this lens.  Have I always done so?  Hardly.  It is a process, and this is exactly what I told my son last night.  Life is a process.  We must constantly be trying, but we won’t be there the first time we take the sacrament.  It is in coming back week after week, repenting when we slip up (which we all do), and trying again.  It is in not giving up, but realizing the Lord has given us the Atonement for the very purpose of trying again. 

These thoughts I had today were definitely a meandering – musing, if you will.  The goal for this day and always is to try more fully to include the Savior in my day – throughout the day – not just as I read my scriptures.  That is the promise that comes from partaking of the sacrament, that I can be worthy to “. . . always have his Spirit to be with me [them]”.